On Monday, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor flew to his hometown of Albany to appeal for votes in Tuesday's primary election.

When Taylor's plane taxied up to a hangar, campaign staffers initially were worried; no one was there to greet the Democratic candidate for governor.

But the aircraft was at the wrong hangar. When it reached the right one, dozens of loyal supporters hailed him.

It was one of the few mistakes his campaign made en route to a convincing nomination victory over Secretary of State Cathy Cox.

"He showed that he is an experienced politician who knows how to win," said Merle Black, a professor of political science at Emery University.

How Taylor won

Taylor was on television first with what widely were considered better ads and reached hard-core Democrats who typically vote in primary elections.

In contrast, Cox spent most of the last part of the campaign - when more people are paying attention - on the defensive.

"He was aggressive from the start and never let her get her sea legs," said Atlanta election strategist Beth Schapiro.

Moreover, Cox based much of her appeal on her claim that she could draw support from independents and even Republicans.

"That just doesn't work in primary elections, especially in a non-presidential election year," said Atlanta-based political consultant and pollster David E. Johnson. "The people who vote in them are party loyalists."

But Black and other experts agree that Taylor must run the race of his life to beat incumbent Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.

While Taylor's close to running on empty, Perdue's sitting on at least $9 million in campaign cash and was renominated Tuesday against only token opposition.

"He can be defeated, but certainly he's the favorite at this point," said University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock.

Worst-case scenarios

But things easily could be worse - for both Taylor and Perdue.

Taylor won an absolute majority, avoiding an Aug. 8 runoff that would have drained more money from party donors and prolonged what already was a mudfest.

It wasn't easy.

Two minor candidates siphoned off thousands of votes and Taylor teetered near the brink of 50 percent in early returns. Later, his share of the vote climbed to 51.7 percent.

"It would have been a worst-case scenario for Democrats," Black said concerning a runoff.

Meanwhile, Perdue got a boost from State Sen. Casey Cagle, who beat former state party chairman Ralph Reed for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.

If Reed had won, Democrats would have used Reed's ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to tar Perdue.

Polls indicated that Reed's presence on the GOP ticket would have pulled Perdue down by 5 or more percentage points.

Reed, the man Democrats love to hate, also would have helped them raise money across the country to oppose a Perdue-Reed ticket.